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“Again, he’s myboss. It’s against his own rules,” I reiterated. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s not just breakfast with you. We all know what’s going on between us after last night.”
They frowned but let the conversation drop when Gertie brought over our drinks and two giant steaming cinnamon rolls.
“It seemed there were some heavy conversations happening, but no one should talk so seriously on an empty stomach. These are on the house, and I’ll give you a few moments since you haven’t even cracked the menu,” she said, rushing off before we could respond.
“Eat, Sienna. We can keep things light for now, okay?” River reassured me. The pleading look in their eyes had me taking a deep breath. They nudged the bigger of the cinnamon rolls in my direction, probably their way of caring for me in the simplest, least pressuring way they could.
“Okay,” I agreed. The prospect of spending time with them without my job being on the line was enough for my nerves to settle down.
With the first bite of cinnamon goodness, the light mood was back. River waited to take a bite, watching for my reaction. Of course, I couldn’t help but let a moan escape as the rich flavors burst across my tongue.
“If the bacon is orgasmic, how do you describe this?”
“Well, I can’t answer that because we’re pretending we’re just friends right now,” River deadpanned with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and popped another bite in my mouth.
“Shut up and eat, River,” I ordered, finally opening the menu. They took a bite of their cinnamon roll and followed my lead. By the time Gertie came back around, we were ready. Not gonna lie, we ordered more food than two people should eat.
River pretended to be distracted, but I caught them watching me a few times. I’d never seen them hold themselves back, and I hated that I’d brought this strange aspect to our dynamic. It almost had me opening my mouth to say something, but then my phone dinged.
Pulling it out I realized all over again why my job was so important. Mom was too important to risk all of this.
Sam:She’s resting well. They said she’d be out most of the day while they get the reaction under control. Thanks for helping.
Sienna:Always. Can I call her soon?
Sam:They’re afraid visitors and calls will stress her out. Leave a voicemail at home, and I’ll make sure she listens.
Sienna:Okay. Let me know if I can do anything else.
My heart ached for my mother suffering in the ICU while I was out having breakfast and club night with my girls. I wanted to call, but it never seemed like the right time. Sam promised she’d try to get her to call, but Mom was always tired.
“You okay?” River’s voice had me tucking my phone away and putting on the mask I usually wore for everyone in my life.
“Of course,” I lied, hoping my scent didn’t betray me. River struck me as an observant alpha. “Especially when my bacon arrives.”
Food wouldn’t fix everything, but it was a good step in the right direction. Especially since it looked like I wouldn’t be eating until tonight at work—something I had to hope none of the alphas noticed. As I looked up at River, I realized that the possibility of that happening was probably none.
I was in such deep shit.
ChapterSeven
River
Just as I dropped Sienna back at her place, my phone started to ring. I ignored it, watching Sienna until she was safely inside her apartment before checking my phone. Luckily, there was no one around to hear the resigned sigh that slipped out when I saw my cousin’s name pop up with several missed calls. This was going to be aninterestingconversation.
Hitting his number, I pulled out onto the road again, heading back to the house.
“River…” Yuri’s cool voice filled the hearse. “Where are you?”
“I just dropped Sienna off at her place after taking her to Sunset Café.”
There was a long, heavy pause before the alpha on the other end of the line growled, “What?”
Typical possessive Yuri.
“It’s not like that!” I shook my head even though he couldn’t see it. “I texted her last night when I was getting ready to go to sleep. I let her know she’d given us her cell number and said we could text her. Just wanted to make sure that she was still okay with it after the alcohol was out of her system. She messaged me back, said she was hungry but had no food, so I took her out. That was it.”
Yuri didn’t respond beyond a click of his tongue before I heard the beep of his coffeemaker starting in the background. “This is going to be complicated.”
